Colleague
by Generouslyinnercheesecake
Summary: Because of an incident, the Batfamily meets Damian's new friend, Colin...


DISCLAIMER: All public characters, settings, etc. are not mine and are property of DC comics. I am not making money off of this work. All my original characters/plot are property of me, the author, and I am not associated with DC comics in any way, shape or form.

——-

Colin quietly trailed behind his friend, making sure to copy their movements and mannerisms, as to not get caught.

The other boy, however, was completely focused on his task of sneaking his friend inside his room, which ultimately made Colin slightly amused yet worried. He knew very little on how Damian's family would be with him. Would they act surprised, yet happy for the two boys? Or would they act cruel and unwelcoming? Colin was mulling over all of this while his friend was solely concentrated on the task at hand.

Of course, Colin lost his concentration in his thoughts and a tall man with blue eyes and dark hair entered the room. Damian paused his movements, looked back at Colin, then glared at the boy. All while, Colin was nervous at the new company, his thoughts whirring and fingers tangling. The man had grown a grin on his face when he saw his brother with another boy his age.

Damian looked ready to kill someone, while the man looked absolutely delighted when looking at Colin.

Colin heard from the nuns that saying 'hello' first was always polite, especially with adults. So, for once, Colin took their advice. "Hello." The word was a little rushed and shaky, but it was out.

The other man's grin faltered for a moment when he recognized the shy tone in Colin's voice, but it only lasted for a moment. "Hello!"

Colin was slightly taken aback by the man's delighted voice, but did not complain. Cheeks slightly coloring, Colin realized that he hadn't said a response yet, "I-I'm Colin, Damian's frie-".

Damian interrupted angrily, "Colleague." The man looked confused for a moment, then it dawned on his face, very apparently, one must add.

"Oh, Dami!" The man said with an even wider grin than before. "You have a friend-"

"Colleague." The forceful answer did not sway Dick.

"-who is so cute and sweet!" Colin blushed again. "Why didn't you tell me you have a friend, Dami-"

"Colleague, Grayson!"

"This is amazing, Dami!" While all of this was occurring, Colin eventually figured out who this man is...Dick Grayson. Damian often talked about his older brother with some disgust, yet respect (at times). Colin also knew of the man's secret identity, since Damian often bragged about his family's abilities. He mostly bragged about his father, Dick, and occasionally his grandfather. He bragged so much that it almost amused and endeared Colin to a certain extent.

Colin shyly smiled at Dick's enthusiasm of him being Damian's friend, as it certainly assured the younger boy that at least someone in his friend's family would be accepting.

Damian, however, not only looked angry but uncomfortable with the situation. Colin knew his friend was often uncomfortable with the idea of having a friend, since he didn't even know what a friend really was until he was brought in by Batman.

Dick noticed this eventually (after babbling for a few minutes) and stopped instantly. He looked back down at Damian, who was subtly shifting his weight from one leg to the other, then chewed his bottom lip while giving an apologetic look. "Alright, Dames, I guess you should go to your room with...Colin." Dick gave a held-back smile as Damian stopped his mannerism and nodded stiffly.

Damian began to leave stiffly. "Follow me, Wilkes." Colin looked at the other boy with some annoyance of being bossed around.

However, Colin quickly remembered that Dick was still in the room, and decided to say goodbye. "Bye, Dick..."

Dick stood there for a moment with a surprised yet satisfied look on his face. Then it hit him like a ton of bricks, which ultimately brought a fond smile on his face.

He never told Colin his full name.

——-

All was quiet in the Batcave, only the quick typing of Tim changing the system on the computers making an echo.

Those hushes noises, however, were interrupted by a slightly panicked voice over the computer. "I need Alfred in the cave."

Tim was surprised to hear Damian's urgent voice on the comms, but he knew it must have been a big deal since Damian rarely called for Alfred's seemingly medical assistance. "Understood. Need assistance getting back?" Although Tim rarely showed care for his brat of a little brother, he was anxious of the boy's mysterious state.

"No. ETA 4 minutes." Tim could hear Damian's voice struggling to maintain, not knowing if it were from physical exertion or pain. Then he heard the sounds of a motorcycle quickly leaving. It only took moments for Tim to understand, really.

Someone was hurt, but it was not Damian.

Tim's fingers twitched as he called out for Alfred using a signal that could link the cave to the butler.

Tim felt intrigued, slightly worried, and frustrated. Intrigued by this mysterious person, worried for the person's state, but also frustrated that Damian was bringing the person to the cave. "The cave is strictly for us." Tim muttered to himself as usual.

Eventually Damian arrived with a trail of skid marks from the motorcycle forming behind him. All while, a seemingly large and deformed person with red hair was on the back of the motorcycle, passed out. Alfred came downstairs with a shotgun in his arms, ready for attack.

Tim noticed this and clarified the old man's purpose down in the cave currently. "Damian's...needs medical assistance."

Alfred nodded curtly, put the shotgun in safety, then put it down at the nearest weapons table. "Who and what needs assistance, Master Tim?"

Tim bit his lip, then nervously gestured to the small boy who was currently trying to lift the heavy person off of the motorcycle and onto the cot. Alfred noticed Damian's struggle, so he moved to help the lad.

With some patience and physical exertion, the two males managed to move the person onto the cot. The person seemed to have enhanced muscles, which looked like a symptom of Bane's venom, Alfred noted. They also had red hair and an almost child-like look upon their face, as their bottom lip was sticking out slightly.

Alfred also noted the distinct stains of blood on their left arm and leg that were most likely from a couple of bullet wounds. The old man pursed his lips, knowing that this would most likely be a complicated procedure. He would most likely need to call up Miss Leslie.

"I suggest you leave the procedures to me, Master Damian." Alfred informed his adoptive grandson, who scowled. Though Damian simply looked angry at being told what to do, Alfred could tell that the young boy was also worried and scared. 'Much too similar to Brucie...' Alfred thought to himself.

After a few short moments of Damian attempting to intimidate the old man, he gave up due to said old man's persistence and experience with angry Bats. Damian began to sulk away as Dick arrived with panic written all over his face and body.

"I CAME AS SOON AS I HEARD!" Dick, as always, made a dramatic entrance. It was evident that he was immensely worried over one of his Babybirds being potentially seriously injured. Also, apparently Dick overheard the call before between Tim and Damian.

Tim rolled his eyes at his over dramatic brother, then stated, "Damian brought in some guy with Bane venom in him and a couple bullet wounds." Tim turned his attention to his younger brother who was glaring at both Tim and Dick, "Damian know he can't bring other people into the cave without Bruce knowing them personally, but apparently he doesn't care." Tim added an afterthought, "As usual."

Damian scoffed loudly, "Father knows no one personally, he simply talks to those allowed in the cave." Dick scrunched up his eyebrows in confusion. "Father knows of this person." Dick's eyebrows relaxed, and he nodded. "But it is no one else's business to whom this person is to..." Damian cut himself off, knowing that if he continued he would show some vulnerability.

Dick's eyebrows were scrunched up again, but this time the cause was concern.

"Is he your friend? What happened, D?" Damian simply glared at Dick. Dick eyes widened, already knowing the answer without Damian having to say anything. "Awh, I'm so sorry, Dames." And suddenly Damian was in a chokehold of a hug.

"Unhand me, you imbecile!" Damian, however, could not escape the tight hold of his older brother's embrace. Damian could feel Dick's head lying on top of his own, but refused to truly feel the comfort and closeness of the loving action.

Damian eventually pushed his way out of the embrace, but found himself red-faced and a concerned Dick along with a timid Tim. Damian heard Alfred working on his frie-colleague, but he couldn't bring himself to resist the man's orders and help with Colin. Something - fear, it seemed - stopped the young man. Damian began to walk away with a quick stride, wanting to go to the one place he could relax- the gym.

"Damian! Where are you-"

Damian interrupted Dick, "None of your business, Grayson." Damian's face seemed to show no emotion, as usual when he was upset about something.

—

Time passed.

Alfred was able to get the two bullets out, and make sure that Colin lived and was able to recover safely.

And Damian was relieved.

After a few hours of punching a bag, said boy got out of the gym as he got the good news from a ruffed-up Dick. "He's awake! He's gonna live, Dami!" Dick said all of this while Damian was still punching away, but Dick's last sentence got Damian's attention.

After a few moments of Damian not punching but staring at his older brother, he finally took off his wrap. After taking off his wrap, he proceeded to walk over to his brother. Dick blinked when figuring out that for once, Damian wanted him to lead the way to his friend. The older man smiled widely, then began to walk to the cots with Damian alongside him.

When they arrived, however, Dick was immediately on alert.

The man had somehow changed to a little boy with red hair. And he looked oddly familiar to Dick. Dick's eyebrows scrunched up together again.

The boy finally woke up with a tired groan of protest. Damian immediately left Dick's side and instead focused his attention on his now-awake friend. Colin opened his sensitive eyes, "Damian?"

Said boy gritted his teeth, "You are finally awake." Despite the other boy's current position, Damian was still angry at him for almost leaving him.

Dick looked incredibly confused and slightly bemused, "Dami. Who is he? One minute ago he was some hulk man and the next he's a boy almost your age-"

Damian snapped his attention to his older brother with a glare. "If you must know, his name is Abuse and I met him on the street. I am his superior."

To that, Colin gave a throaty laugh that brought Damian's attention back to his friend. "He's not my superior, Mr. Nightwing. He's my frie-"

Damian cut him off again, "Colleague." Damian looked visibly irked, but did not tell Colin off about how they work together. However, Dick noticed the parallels of Damian's older friend and the currently hurt friend.

Dick smiled. "Are you Colin?" The injured boy nodded. Dick smiled even wider. "Why didn't you tell me he was also a hero, Dami? We could have made a great team, the three of us!" Damian rolled his eyes. "What powers does Colin have? How did he get them? How did you guys meet? Oh, Dames, I wish I could have known earlier that you had a friend-"

"Colleague."

A/N: Hello! I dunno if you came from my tumblr page (generouslyinnercheesecake), but welcome! I made this page to make it easier to upload and communicate more with my readers. Please comment if you would like to, and please give me a follow as well! Thank you so much for reading and have an amazing day!


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